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Students navigating neurodiversity can face unique classroom challenges. However, the right teacher support can help them thrive in their learning and growth journey.
This month, Jessica Kingsley Publishers Library draws from our Autism and Neurodiversity collection to offer resources for teachers, researchers and others who support students at ranging learning levels. Scroll down for insights into topics addressing neurodiversity in the classroom, from helping dyslexic students overcome exam anxiety, to building trust-based relationships with autistic learners, to creating a neurodiversity-inclusive school environment.
Students who learn differently can often find tests challenging and experience a good deal of anxiety around exam time, leading to results that don’t accurately reflect their abilities. The Dyslexia, ADHD and DCD-Friendly Study Skills Guide: Tips and Strategies for Exam Success by specialist teacher and ADHD coach Ann-Marie McNicholas offers students advice to help them overcome issues that can contribute to exam anxiety, equipping them with powerful strategies for learning and remembering.
In this sample chapter, McNicholas helps readers understand anxiety and offers key tips that can help neurodivergent learners mitigate exam stress.
As a profile within the autism spectrum, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) affects students in a range of ways, including resistance to tasks, feeling overwhelmed or threatened by instructions, and reduced progress across subjects. In her go-to-guide The Educator’s Experience of Pathological Demand Avoidance: An Illustrated Guide to Pathological Demand Avoidance and Learning, expert teacher Laura Kerbey helps instructors implement PDA-friendly practices that enable them to better connect with and support their students.
In this chapter, Kerbey offers advice about building trust with students, clearing a path for healthy learning.
Memory and processing skills are key elements of learning which can be more difficult for students who learn differently. In The Memory and Processing Guide for Neurodiverse Learners: Strategies for Success, author and specialist tutor Alison Patrick explains some of the memory and processing issues neurodiverse students face, offering strategic advice on how to help those students work around those issues as they strengthen their learning skills.
Read this provided chapter in which Patrick offers practical tips for helping students use visual memory skills to help them learn.
Teenage years are associated with high levels of uncertainty and anxiety, compounded by academic demands, social pressures, and both physical and emotional changes. Those years can be especially tough for teenagers who learn differently. The Anxiety Workbook for Supporting Teens Who Learn Differently, experts Kate Ripley and Rebecca Murphy take a holistic approach to focus on the practicalities of college life for autistic students, addressing topics that include school admission, new sensory issues, peer relationships, time management, and more.
Read this sample chapter in which Ripley and Murphy examine the experience of the new university student with an emphasis on how to navigate the sensory sensitivity that can accompany such a transition.
Sometimes the best support an autistic student receives may be from a teacher who has lived experience with autism themselves. Learning from Autistic Teachers: How to be a Neurodiversity-Inclusive School is a strikingly honest collection in which autistic teachers and other autistic school professionals share stories of the challenges and successes of their careers.
In this sample essay, teacher Lucy Coward draws from her own experience to discuss the unique value an autistic teacher can bring to the classroom, as well as how she and others navigate and overcome inherent professional challenges.
